Young Brunette Girl Posing With Lion Sculptures

Scientists once believed that the distinct status of some subspecies could be justified by morphology, including the size of the mane. Morphology was used to identify subspecies such as the Barbary Lion and Cape Lion. Research has suggested, however, that environmental factors influence the color and size of a lion's mane, such as the ambient temperature. The cooler ambient temperature in European and North American zoos, for example, may result in a heavier mane. Thus the mane is not an appropriate marker for identifying subspecies. The males of the Asiatic subspecies, however, are characterized by sparser manes than average African lions.
Maneless male lions have been reported in Senegal and Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, and the original male white lion from Timbavati also was maneless. The testosterone hormone has been linked to mane growth, therefore castrated lions often have minimal to no mane, as the removal of the gonads inhibits testosterone production. The lack of a mane sometimes is found in inbred lion populations; inbreeding also results in poor fertility.
Cave paintings of extinct European Cave Lions exclusively show animals with no mane, or just the hint of a mane, suggesting that they were maneless.